1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to consumer surveys and more particularly to providing consumer surveys to panelists.
2. Description of the Related Art
To provide consumer surveys according to demographic, attitudinal, or behavioral profiles, a survey provider may form a contractual relationship with panelists having a known profile. The survey provider, for example, may supply a panelist with Internet access, award points, or otherwise compensate a panelist for taking a specified number of surveys over a period of time. For example, a panelist may agree to a 30 minute survey each week in return for 100 points that can be redeemed for goods or services.
The survey provider invites panelists to take a survey according to a random sampling or a specific demographic, attitudinal, or behavioral profile. However, the survey provider may have difficulty receiving responses to the survey. In some instances, a panelist may decide to not accept the invitation. For example, a higher income panelist may decide that 100 points is simply not worth the time. In other instances, a survey includes a screening question such as, “have you visited a zoo in the past three months?” if, for example, the survey is about zoos. If a panelist responds “no,” the panelist does not take the survey and the survey provider is not able to invite the panelist to another survey that week. Often, the panelist does not spend the entire 30 minutes taking the survey. Even in instances where the panelist does take the survey, the panelist may spend only 10 minutes of the 30 minute session taking the survey.
It is desirable for survey providers to be able to offer an increased incentive to certain panelists within an unresponsive demographic, attitudinal, or behavioral profile. Survey providers also desire a way to use the full session of the panelists invited to take a survey using, for example, other surveys or sets of survey questions.